China's top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2014 were unveiled in Beijing on April 9. Discoveries honored in the competition hosted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage were characterized by exploration of frontier regions and ancient ethnic groups.

The 10 discoveries were selected from 688 entries. They are the paleolithic sites at Nanjiang River and Modaoshan in Yunan County, Guangdong Province; the Dongzhao site in Zhengzhou, Henan Province; the cemetery of the Zeng State at Guojiamiao, Zaoyang, Hubei Province; the Dabona cemetery in Xiangyun County, Yunnan Province; the early Yueyao kiln site at Jinshan, Shangyu District, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province; the Gurujiamu and Quta cemeteries in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region; the Yihenaoer cemetery in Zhengxiangbai Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; the Sui Dynasty (581-618) Huiluocang granary site in Luoyang and Liyangcang granary site in Junxian, Henan Province; the Liao Dynasty (907-1125) mining sites at Dazhuangke in Yanqing County, Beijing; and the cemetery of Bozhou Chieftain Yang’s family in Zunyi, Guizhou Province.

Compared to previous years, archaeological discoveries linked to ethnic groups of frontier provinces and autonomous regions in ancient times dominated this year’s top 10 list.

Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology (IA) at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and president of the Archaeological Society of China, pinpointed the rapid development of frontier archaeology as a noticeable trend in contemporary archaeological studies.

Archaeological research of frontier areas is crucial to exploring the formation of multiethnic states, Wang said, citing the example that the Xang Xung Period (4th century BC-7th century) burial sites unearthed at the Gurujiamu and Quta cemeteries in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, have yielded evidence of the relation between the then dynasty of China and the region.

The cemetery of Bozhou Chieftain Yang’s family in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, which was evacuated jointly by Guizhou Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics (GIACR), IA and Zunyi Cultural Relics Bureau, drew much attention during the selection.

According to Zhou Bisu, leader of the project and GIACR director, the cemetery manifests the transformation from feudal lords of the Song Dynasty (960-1276) towards the native chieftain system in the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. It is of great significance to the research of the chieftain system and cultural characteristics of Guizhou and the whole southwestern region, she said.

The Yihenaoer tomb group, situated deep in the Xilin Gol Prairie in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, bears distinct features of the ancient Xianbei nomadic people who once roamed the area. Some remains are exotic in style, implying that the ethnic group either had economic ties with Central Asia, Western Asia and the Eurasian Steppe through the Steppe Silk Road or migrated from those regions.

Chen Yongzhi, leader of the project and director of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that the excavation has provided valuable materials for studies of the Steppe Silk Road, frontier history and ethnic relations during the Northern Wei period (386-557).

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 725, April 13, 2015.

The Chinese link: http://sscp.cssn.cn/xkpd/xszx/gn/201504/t20150413_1583370.html

　Translated by Chen Mirong

　　Revised by Tom Fearon